To a Roman Catholic are Protestants good Christians?

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mikew262 said:
I’m sorry, but I and several others on this forum don’t interpret it that way.
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Did you read the rest of what I said?

Those not formally Catholics (but seeking the truth sincerely), may be saved, as they are informally part of the Catholic Church.

You don’t have to be a formal member of the Church to be saved, but you do have to be a member (either formal or informal).

This is the church’s teaching - where does any church document (council or even the 1984 catechism) say otherwise?
 
I’m curious as to whether or not anyone here will say that atheists are also able to acheive salvation.
 
Caesar said:
I’m curious as to whether or not anyone here will say that atheists are also able to acheive salvation.
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An atheist who:
  1. Earnestly seeks the truth
  2. Is ignorant of the Catholic Church
  3. Has no mortal sin on his/her soul
may be part of the church, and saved.

If they don’t fulfill those 3 conditions, they’re not part of the church, and are damned to the eternal fire.
 
Resurrexit said:
Did you read the rest of what I said?

Those not formally Catholics (but seeking the truth sincerely), may be saved, as they are informally part of the Catholic Church.

You don’t have to be a formal member of the Church to be saved, but you do have to be a member (either formal or informal).

This is the church’s teaching - where does any church document (council or even the 1984 catechism) say otherwise?
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I don’t really have a strong disagreement with that. However, try telling a Baptist who is sincerely seeking (or has found in his mind) Christ that he is an “informal” member of the Catholic Church. :eek:
 
Caesar said:
I’m curious as to whether or not anyone here will say that atheists are also able to acheive salvation.
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If they are ignorant of religion and God not because of their own accord, then yes, I think God will judge them on how they lived their lives based on what they knew to be true and right. 👍
 
Alex_G said:
I think if every one would stick to two basic points this could be a much more charitable and fruitful exchange.

First, stick to answering what is being asked. i.e. how do Catholics view “other branches…”.

To this I will say: We must all agree that Christ founded a Church based on Truth

“…For this was I born, and for this I came into the world; that* I should give testimony to the truth***.” And most important “Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice.” John 18.38
And His command to this Church IS: *“Going therefore, teach ye all nations… Teaching them to **observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you…”/***I] Matt. 28. 19-20

The simple answer then is this: if there is but one truth we must strive to find that truth in its fullness and follow and obey it. **Any deviation from the full truth cannot be ‘good’ **since it is only partially correct and therefore incomplete. So, any ‘branches’ of the Church that do not possess the whole truth are NOT THE Church.

Second, when answering as a Catholic, stick to answering what the Church teaches. As nice as some of the personal opinions here stated are (not all post, but many are opinion based), we cannot avoid the truth presuming to be charitable. So to the second part of the question “can non-Catholics be true and good Christians?”

I must first clarify that “No one is good but God alone…” if the Church is Holy is not because the Church is Catholic, but because the Church is the body of Christ. So, to be a Christian you must belong to this body; and to be a “true and good Christian” you MUST FOLLOW the whole truth and try to do it the best you can (“pick your cross daily and follow ME…”).

Now whether you can be a good Christian just because you call yourself Christian, or Catholic, or Protestant, or whatever, that is a different story, and I would not dare pass judgment as to the goodness or holiness of others.

But to tell you that you can be saved without the fullness of TRUTH would be a truly uncharitable thing indeed. So, if you accept and try to follow “ALL things whatsoever” He commanded then you would most likely find yourself a member of the One and True Church; anything short of that does not cut it.

Hello,

I concur. Thank you for your post.

Luiz
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Resurrexit said:
An atheist who:
  1. Earnestly seeks the truth
  2. Is ignorant of the Catholic Church
  3. Has no mortal sin on his/her soul
may be part of the church, and saved.

If they don’t fulfill those 3 conditions, they’re not part of the church, and are damned to the eternal fire.
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But let’s be honest, it (particularly considering no.3) is not very likely is it?
 
Frankly, I don’t understand why everyone is hung up on the 1984 Catechism. Older catechisms teach the same thing, don’t they? The Baltimore catechism does.

Why is it so difficult to understand that non-Catholics can be outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church yet still be within its membership in some sense? I fail to see why this is such a stumbling block.
 
mrs_abbott said:
If they are ignorant of religion and God not because of their own accord, then yes, I think God will judge them on how they lived their lives based on what they knew to be true and right. 👍
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Now Mrs_Abbott, you and I agree on just about everything. However, I’m not sure about this one.

Let’s not fight. 😃
 
Resurrexit said:
An atheist who:
  1. Earnestly seeks the truth
  2. Is ignorant of the Catholic Church
  3. Has no mortal sin on his/her soul
may be part of the church, and saved.

If they don’t fulfill those 3 conditions, they’re not part of the church, and are damned to the eternal fire.
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Hmm…I did not know this. Ok, maybe an atheist has a chance.
 
mikew262 said:
I don’t really have a strong disagreement with that. However, try telling a Baptist who is sincerely seeking (or has found in his mind) Christ that he is an “informal” member of the Catholic Church. :eek:
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They may not like it, but then I can’t imagine them liking too much the Immaculate Conception or the Real Presence, but we should not water-down these teachings. Speak the unabridged truth in loving charity is what we must do.

And btw, what I said is the true meaning of the Dogma Extra Ecclesia Nulla est salus.
 
Caesar said:
Your posts stum me because they hardly resemble what should be coming from a Catholic. A disregard for Doctrine, Sacred Tradition, and a complete misundering of infallibility and the purpose of a Catechism.
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Likewise.
 
Thanks to all who contributed to the discussion.
This thread is now closed.
 
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